Jon B

Very very disappointed!

I have bought three cars in the last month on behalf of my family, a Nissan Micra for my mother, another Micra for my partner and yet another Micra for my son. During that process, I have travelled long distances to look at a few cars and in every case I have put a deposit down with the dealer simply to keep the vehicle from being sold before I could get to view it. In two cases, where on closer inspection in person, the vehicle was not in quite as good a condition as hoped for, the dealers immediately reimbursed the deposit and I moved on. When I enquired about a 2010 Micra advertised with Affordable Cars of Kent, based in Rochester, I was a little surprised to be asked for a much larger deposit than other dealers had requested, £250 ( as opposed to £100 in every other case ). On arrival, having driven nearly 3 hours from Brighton, I was initially impressed with how clean the vehicle looked but on starting the engine, it was apparent that something wasn't right as grey smoke began emanating from the exhaust. I informed George the dealer who said it was probably just condensation as the car had been standing and to let it warm up. After about 20 mins, a substantial quantity of smoke was still coming from the exhaust and I expressed that I wasn't happy. George informed me that the car had just been MOT'd so it was perfectly fine. So I asked him for a copy of the emissions report ( which is part of the MOT requirement ) only to be informed in a manner that I would describe as dismissive, that there wasn't a report as ' it's computerised nowadays and no paperwork is issued '. I replied that I found that odd as every MOT certificate I'd received recently had the emissions report stapled to it. George said he'd take the vehicle to their mechanic ' to have it checked out ' and returned after about 10 mins to say the mechanic had confirmed it was just condensation ( but George didn't bring back any copy of the emissions report ). A lot of dark grey smoke was still coming from the exhaust but George and then his manager insisted it was ok and then tried to assure me that the vehicle was covered anyway by a free 3 month warranty so, if there were any problems, I could return it. I asked for a copy of the warranty which I scrutinised thoroughly only to find that incredibly, despite a comprehensive list, the warranty excluded cracked cylinder heads, cylinders or major engine damage, I was simply told that it was an off-the-shelf warranty and ' they're all like that '. On that basis, I stated that I would not be prepared to risk buying the vehicle and asked that they reimburse my deposit to my account and frustratingly I would have to look elsewhere. It was then that I was informed my deposit would not be returned. Their brief explanation was that in putting down a deposit, I had legally committed to purchasing the vehicle. I expressed my concern that it seemed very unreasonable to expect someone to purchase a vehicle unseen, especially where one could not possibly check the engine beforehand and in particular where it appeared that the engine not only seemed unsound but ominously, no emissions report paperwork could be produced to verify its claimed good condition. I returned home to check the exhaust on all the other Micras to discover that not a wisp of smoke appeared from any of them even on start up and that according to the DVSA, ' a written copy of the emissions report signed by the technician must be presented to the vehicle owner '. I have checked this with two local MOT testing stations who confirm this is indeed correct. As a result, I am highly dubious of the actions of Affordable Cars and unless I receive a full refund, l not only intend to take the matter further and inform Trading Standards but will phone the DVSA fraud hotline and ask them to investigate this suspicious activity. I will update this review and inform potential buyers of my progress in this matter on a regular basis, hopefully with a favourable outcome.